


Bully

by peterickswhore



Series: Peterick One Shots [58]
Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Flirting, Bullying, Crushes, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, High School, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Secret Crush, Teen Angst, Teen Crush, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 05:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18613765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterickswhore/pseuds/peterickswhore
Summary: Pete's been bullying Patrick for years but they've been thinking about it very differently





	Bully

**Patrick's POV**

Pete Wentz is a fucking asshole. We've had classes together for the last 3 years of high school and it's a complete nightmare. He's super popular and sporty and everyone else loves him but for some reason he has it out for me. It isn't even that bad though because he's not properly bullying me so I can't even tell on him and get him in trouble. It's just snide remarks and teasing and jokes and making fun of me and I hate it. It's not enough that people would think he's a bully but just enough to hurt me.

Luckily though he's the only person who bullies me so I can deal with it. Apparently he's also kind of rude to Joe and Brendon, my best friends, so maybe he's just an asshole. It could be a lot worse for an openly gay music nerd like me so I guess I should be grateful it's just teasing not beatings.

One Monday I'm walking down the hall with my books in one arm and guitar case in the other when someone bumps me hard. I expect it to be Pete so when I see it's one of his other jock friends I don't really know what to do. The guy doesn't seem like he really meant to do it but he just laughs and walks off so I glare at his back.

Carefully I start gathering up all my papers and sticking them back in the right textbooks, hoping I won't be late to class. When someone kneels next to me I look up and scowl again when I see it's Pete. "Fuck off asshole I don't have time for you today" "I just want to help" "Then tell your stupid fucking friends not to bump people in the halls, you're all pricks" "I'm sorry, just let me help"

Silently Pete helps me collect up all my papers and put them away then takes the pile of books from me. "Are you going to your locker?" "Yeah I need to out my stuff away" "Let's go"

We walk to my locker and Pete waits as I out my stuff away then blushes as he asks "We have gym now right?" "Yeah so let's go, I don't wanna be late"

We walk to class together then Pete holds the door open for me to go in first. I really don't understand why he's suddenly being a decent person but I guess I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

For the rest of the day Pete doesn't speak to me and I start thinking maybe he's thought better of being an asshole. Maybe he's found some other poor kid to tease instead of me and I can finally relax.

The next day though Pete's right back at it. I don't know if he just smoked too much weed yesterday or what but obviously it was a one time thing. For the rest of the week he's back at his teasing but it doesn't seem to hurt me as much as before. Maybe he's being nicer or maybe I'm becoming immune, I don't really care either way honestly.

The next Monday I've got a bunch of stuff again but I don't have time to put them away before gym class. Instead I have to go to the locker room and shove them all in the tiny locker then quickly change. I can hear Pete and a couple of his other friends laughing from across the room but I don't look up or react. Changing in front of people is hard enough without hearing what those assholes have to say about my body.

In gym we've started a unit on soccer so today we're working on exercises for balance and coordination. We do some stupid warm ups then the teacher makes everyone walk across a gymnastics beam to test balance. I try to avoid having to do it but eventually I get shoved to the front so I have to try. I get almost half way across before missing a foot and tumbling to the floor.

My cheeks are burning so I quickly scramble to my feet and run to the other side. I'm already feeling like a clumsy idiot so when I hear Pete softly singing Humpty Dumpty I've had enough. He's singing it and his friends are looking at me and laughing and I just can't handle anymore of this shit.

The teacher isn't paying attention so I slip out of the gym and go to the locker room to change again. I hang out in there until class ends then grab my things and head to my locker. It's lunch so I can spend the whole time bitching to Joe and Brendon because they hate Pete almost as much as I do.

I'm almost at my locker when I see the same friends of Pete's who knocked me yesterday coming towards me. I try to avoid them but one specifically puts himself right in my way so he can knock my things down. I guess maybe Pete's decided to be nicer because his friends are picking up the job of torturing me.

As I kneel down Pete kneels next to me but I just glare and snatch up everything he tried to pick up. "Go away Pete" "I just want to help" "Stay the fuck away from me, what have I ever done to you?" "You've never done anything" "Exactly, why do you have to be so fucking rude when I haven't done anything wrong" "I'm not rude" "Bullshit"

I finish picking up my stuff and try to walk away but Pete follows me like an annoying puppy. I let him follow me to my locker as I put my things away then glare at him. "Do you want something?" "Why do you hate me so much?" "Why do you hate me?" "I don't" "So you just tease everyone and make everyone feel like shit?" "I don't make you feel like shit" "Don't try to fucking tell me what I feel"

I've always had a short temper and Pete really isn't helping with that. I don't have time for his shit today and I'm already in a bad enough mood without him making me feel worse.

"Patrick what have I done wrong?" "I haven't exactly written a list of all the things you've done over the years" "What have I done?" "You constantly tease me and mock me and make me feel like a joke. Today you called me Humpty Dumpty, was that supposed to be a fucking compliment?" "It was a joke" "It wasn't very fucking funny, if you want to call me fat just say it to my face, it's not exactly a secret or anything"

I try to walk off but Pete grabs my wrist and pulls me back. He looks upset but I couldn't care less about his feelings right now. He's said so many little things to break down my self esteem that I don't care if I do the same to him. Maybe it'll make him hate me more so him and his friends will just get worse but I'm done with it. They can hit me or tease me or call me whatever names they want, it's not like anything I do will stop them anyway. Right now I just want to speak my mind to Pete and deal with the consequences later.

"Patrick I wasn't calling you fat" "Well you wouldn't exactly call a skinny person Humpty fucking Dumpty would you?" "It wasn't like that, it was just supposed to be a joke" "I'm glad you think my weight is hilarious" "It's not, I'm sorry" "I don't care" "Why are you so upset about it? It's not a big deal, it's just a joke" "It's always just a joke Pete, every time you comment on me being fat or dumb or ugly or boring or a loser it's always just a joke. Just because it's a joke doesn't mean it doesn't hurt and just because it's a joke to you doesn't mean it's a joke to me"

Pete's staring at me with his mouth open so I shake his hand off my wrist then storm off to the cafeteria. Joe and Brendon are already there so I spend the next few minutes telling them everything that happens. They seem equally mad when I tell them what Pete was singing so I feel justified in my anger.

I don't want to think about Pete anymore so instead the three of us debate the best albums from the 80s. Brendon and Joe are eating lunch but I feel so shit about what Pete said that I don't want to eat anything. When I was a freshman I had an eating disorder for a while until Brendon and Joe found out and did their best to help me. Lately I've been really good about eating but I can just feel myself getting bad again.

When Joe and Brendon go quiet I give them a confused look then slowly look behind me. When I see Pete I roll my eyes and turn back to Joe and Brendon, ignoring Pete in the hope he'll go away.

"Patrick can we talk?" "No, go the fuck away" "Please? I really need to talk to you" "You sure you want to be seen with a bunch of faggots in front of everyone?" "Im bi Patrick, I'm not a homophobic dick and neither are my friends" "Yeah sure"

Pete seems like he's starting to get frustrated so I keep ignoring him and steal a fry from Joe's plate to nibble on. When Pete kneels down next to me I ignore him for as long as I can before sighing and looking down at him.

"What Pete?" "Please talk to me" "I don't owe you shit" "I know you don't but I just really want to explain myself" "Then explain, I'm listening" "Let's go somewhere private" "No, if it's not something you want to say around my friends it's not something I want to hear" "Fine, I just want you to know I only tease you because I have a crush on you, happy?"

Me, Joe and Brendon all stare at him in shock until he stands up and walks around the table to sit in the seat next to me. "Say something dude" "What do you want me to say?" "I don't know, the truth I guess" "The truth is I think you're a fucking idiot for being mean to me then trying to pretend it's because you like me. I don't know what game you're playing but it's not funny"

I feel a little bad for being so mean but after all the ways Pete's torn me down over the years I think I have the right to be mean. We all sit in silence until Pete slides his hand over and gently puts it over mine. "It's not a game and it's not a joke, I'm serious" "You bully me because you like me?" "I don't bully you, I just tease you a bit" "Well it's fucking mean teasing" "I got desperate, no matter what I did you didn't notice me so I had to do more to get your attention" "Why didn't you just ask me out?" "Because when I was 14 I was super embarrassed about my sexuality so I just wanted to flirt a bit but not go through with anything. Then I got more comfortable with liking guys but I was scared to admit it. I'd been teasing you for years so it was easier to keep doing that than change and ask you out"

I kind of understand why he did it but it's so stupid. It's like how people tell little girls that if little boys are mean to them they have a crush on them but this is much more stupid. We're not silly little 5 year olds at day care, we're 17 and we're way too old for this stupid bullshit.

I half want to punch Pete but as I said, we're 17 not 5 and if Pete isn't going to act his age I'm going to have to. Instead I turn to Pete put a hand under his chin and look him straight in the eyes. "You're a complete fucking asshole but you seem like a mildly acceptable complete fucking asshole. You've hurt me a lot over the years so I don't know what you're expecting but you won't get it. If you really want to make it up to me you can buy me a gift and give it to me tomorrow then if I like it we can go out some time. It'll only be as friends but I'll hang out with you and give you a chance to make it up to me"

Pete smiles briefly when I say I'll go out with him but then he puts his hand over my hand that's on his face. "How have I hurt you?" "You tease me and make me feel like a joke and it's hurt my self esteem which was already pretty low" "You never told me that" "Yeah because if you tell a bully they've hurt you it's not usually going to make them stop" "I didn't mean to be a bully" "That's fine but you hurt me and it doesn't matter whether you meant to or not" "I'm sorry I upset you, I really just wanted you to like me" "I did like you, in freshman year I thought you were cute and you seemed sweet and your teasing was just friendly. Then over time it got meaner so I stopped liking you because I was scared and pissed"

Pete looks so sad about it and I feel bad even though I know I shouldn't. Now that I know his teasing was meant to be flirting it doesn't hurt me as much and I can feel my crush coming back. He is a good guy even though he was very misguided and went about getting my attention completely wrong.

I lean in to gently peck Pete's check then smile at the way his eyes widen. He looks so happy now so I pat his hand "Thank you for coming to talk to me" "I just really don't want you to be upset I just want to make you happy" "And I think you will, I'm glad you and your friends won't be mean anymore" "My friends? What did they do?" "They laugh at your teasing and tease me and push me in the halls, it's not bad" "I didn't know, I told those fuckers I like you" "Don't worry about it" "No one but me is allowed to tease you, I don't want anyone hurting you, I'll make them stop"

He's being such a sweetheart so I give him a smile then steal another of Joe's fries. Him and Brendon are trying to act like they haven't been listening but of course they have. I don't mind though because I'd tell them every word of this conversation anyway.

Pete apologises a couple more times before leaving so I watch him go then sigh "I hate drama". Brendon and Joe look at me with sympathy then Brendon giggles "Are you two gonna fuck?" "Jesus Brendon no" "You've got so much anger built up so maybe angry sex with him would be a good way to get rid of it" "I barely know him, we're not gonna fuck right now you weirdo, maybe one day though"

This whole situation kinda sucks but Pete seems like he's serious about this so I'll see what happens. If it turns out he's a dick I'll find a way to get back at him but maybe it'll go well. He's a complete idiot and knows nothing about romance but neither do I so we'll figure something out.


End file.
